Supreme Neglect

How to Revive Constitutional Protection For Private Property

Richard A. Epstein

Description

As far back as the Magna Carta in 1215, the right of private property was seen as a bulwark of the individual against the arbitrary power of the state. Indeed, common-law tradition holds that "property is the guardian of every other right." And yet, for most of the last seventy years, property rights had few staunch supporters in America.

This latest addition to Oxford's Inalienable Rights series provides a succinct, pointed look at property rights in America--how they came to be, how they have evolved, and why they should once again be a mainstay of the law. Richard A. Epstein, the nation's preeminent authority on the subject, examines all aspects of private property--from real estate to air rights to intellectual property. He takes the reader from the
strongly protective property rights advocated by the framers of the Constitution through to the weak property rights supported by Progressive and liberal politicians of the twentieth century and finally to our own time, which has seen a renewed appreciation of property rights in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's landmark Kelo v. New London decision in 2005. The author's own powerful defense of property rights threads through the narrative. Using both political theory and economic analysis, Epstein argues that above all that private property is a sound social institution, and not just an excuse for selfishness and greed. Only a system of private property lets people form and raise families, organize religious and other charitable organizations, and earn a living through honest labor.

Supreme Neglect

How to Revive Constitutional Protection For Private Property

Richard A. Epstein

Author Information

Richard A. Epstein is the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1972. He has also been the Peter and Kirstin Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution since 2000. He is the author of numerous books--including Takings, which is regarded as the bible of the property rights movement--and has written for The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times

Supreme Neglect

How to Revive Constitutional Protection For Private Property

Richard A. Epstein

Reviews and Awards

"This book represents a distillation and refinement of a lifetime of thought about private property, the individual, and the state. Epstein's vision of the Takings Clause is provocative and original, and has been powerfully influential with courts and academics alike."--Thomas W. Merrill, Charles Keller Beekman Professor, Columbia Law School

"In this timely and thoughtful book Richard Epstein stresses the importance of private property as a safeguard of individual liberty, and argues convincingly for a vigorous interpretation of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment."--James W. Ely, Jr., author of The Guardian of Every Other Right: A Constitutional History of Property Rights

"I have always envied Richard Epstein's awesome ability to boil down the complexities into a pure and powerful dose of common sense. In Supreme Neglect, he demonstrates once again that when it comes to private property and economic liberty, he is simply the best there is."--Timothy Sandefur, Senior Staff Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation, and author of Cornerstone of Liberty: Property Rights in 21st Century America